How Start-up Success Ankiti Bose Helps Other Asian Women Entrepreneurs Go Global

Ankiti Bose is on track to become the first Indian woman to co-found a $1 billion dollar start-up. The 27-year old mogul wants to use her success to empower other women entrepreneurs in Asian countries, as she told Karen Gilchrist in a recent article for Make It.

Bose’s start-up, Zilingo, launched in 2014, is a retail website that sells the clothing and textiles of entrepreneurs all over Asia. The site gives a platform to small-business owners who might not otherwise have the reach or resources to sell their products on a global level. Many of these entrepreneurs that Bose has helped include women who sell their work at pop-up markets in Asia.

Besides Zilingo being founded on empowering women entrepreneurs, Bose has also ensured that it is a 50% female company with 50% female leadership. Bose notes that she wants to see her own success happen to a-lot of other women, and she uses her platform to work towards just that. To achieve this goal, Bose urges women, “to continue demanding more of their employers and colleagues — whether that’s in terms of guidance or recognition.” As the Zilingo CEO, Bose has witnessed female colleagues “shy away from opportunities, while their male counterparts typically ‘negotiate hard’ for their salaries, positions, and even resignation packages.”

Her advice to other women in business?

“I think it’s important to ask for help, and it’s also important to ask for what you think you deserve. I’ve had situations where I’ve gone into negotiations with women saying ‘you’re asking for too little, don’t you know what you’re worth?’ In the end, I think [things] can only shift if there are enough women in leadership and decision-making positions. But to get there, we all have to work very hard.” 

It thrills wegg® that Bose’s incredible success is built on a foundation of raising up her fellow women. Providing resources for female business owners is also a cornerstone of our work. Check out our website to learn more about our wegginars®, workshops, and weggchats®.